Okay, I really wanted to approach the upper right, but based on the limited joseki knowledge that I have I couldn't see a way for it to end in sente for me based upon the joseki that I showed in an earlier post.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc Wanted to avoid this
$$ -----------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . y y y . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . x x x . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ -----------------------------------------[/go]

I didn't want Black to play at one of the x's in the diagram above. That would expand Black's shimari beautifully, and if I don't either invade or reduce soon, I'm going to be behind if Black also gets 'y'. I want to avoid this if possible. If that means not getting to approach the upper right, so be it.

Two questions:

(1) What is your goal in approaching black's shimari (specifically, why two spaces away)?
(2) How do you expect black to respond, and how will you handle?

At first I dismissed the obvious pincer since it is attacking a weak stone but I think the following sequence is pretty good for me. And although most of the other standard approaches or extensions all seem a bit passive so although a or b were actually my first thoughts (and probably what I would have played if I hadn't over thought this).

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc Move 6
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . a . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . b , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X . O . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . X . O . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

And his invasion at a seems like a logical follow up but as far as I can read it looks good for me.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc Move 6
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
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$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X . O . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . X . O . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Truth be told I typed this up a couple of times with different moves. I feel a bit lost in previously familiar territory. I've been reading some more advanced stuff about the opening and in place of my old shimari-extend-approach-invade dogma are more nebulous "ideas" and "concepts" with which I am not yet fully confidant.

I may have just over thought myself into a substandard move.

Looking at it now as a proper diagram I am much more confidant about my move. I can just smell Suji's fear. Mmmm... fear smells good.

It's attaching to weak stones that is generally a no-no. Attacking them is fine and good.

If white wants to play on this side, this is much, much better. 4th line is fine too.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc Move 6
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . W . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I think white is waaaay too worried about that shimari.

Clearly I am 30k as this is pretty much all I know how to do. XD

White's last was a mistake. Below looks like a good way to punish it to me.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc Move 6
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
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$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . 7 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . 3 . 2 . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 5 . . . . 1 . O . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

As other folks have pointed out, white has erred. To explain slightly more for DDKs, this is a fairly textbook example of playing too close to strength.

To take a few rough examples:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc Normal
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . W . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Something like this is pretty normal, right? Approach a corner stone, to try to claim a foothold on the bottom. Great. This works because your opponent has two things to worry about: defending their corner stone or attacking your approaching stone. If your opponent attacks your stone (with a pincer, for example), you can invade the corner or approach the other side of the corner to change directions. If your opponent defends their corner, you can defend your own stone, making a stable group.

However, what if your opponent's group is already strong?

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc Normal
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . 2 . 1 . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Then, your opponent does not have to worry about defending his own group, so he gets to focus on attack. Since he has no weak spots, you have no options (like jumping into the corner, changing directions, and so on), so you are left with a weak stone under attack, and your opponent gets to attack you for free.

As a result, it is much better to approach strength from farther away, so that your opponent cannot attack you directly.

You said you have been reading some different stuff? What have you been reading, compared to what you were reading before?

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc Looking back...
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
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$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . a . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . a . . . W . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Looking back, this may have been a mistake seeing his response. Honestly, I didn't look at specific variations to get to this move. Though in my thought process I didn't want him to get both 'a' points. Because, then I would have to reduce or invade neither of which I'm particularly good at, at this stage.

Even if he got J3, I might depending on the circumstances have to reduce or invade. Maybe, I made this move out of fear. I wanted him to attend to the right side near the star point. I knew he was going to pincer me.

So, then, you ask, Why did you play such a move? Probably because I was scared of his possibilities on the bottom with the shimari. Emotion was telling me one thing, while logic was telling me another. In Go, at least for me, emotions dictate the kind of moves you play. Emotions can be both good and bad in this sense.

Now, how to survive this debacle? I'm not sure, but I know that I'm going to have to start listening to my head and not my emotions, especially fear, if I want to get better at Go.

Good thoughts . Two ideas to consider - (1) You probably can't prevent your opponent from getting something from his shimari. (2) You probably can prevent your opponent from getting an ideal extension. You probably know that black wants to extend to K3 from his shimari. If white forces black's extension to be shorter (closer to his own strength), this is positive for white, even if it means black gets some territory.

Yeah, one thing I really have to learn is that I can't have my cake and eat it too.

Now that I've gotten myself into a predicament, is it better to tenuki or fight? I'm leaning to the latter.

Nothing too complicated.

I've read Janice Kim's series of books which basically just say corners-sides-approach-invade and just I've started "In the Beginning". I hate to make a move that I know is correct just because I know it is correct I like to understand why making that move is correct and right now "In the Beginning is only half way through explaining the more detailed stuff so simply thinking "this move follows standard opening procedure" doesn't sit well with me and I try to over think it without having the tools to do it (even if it were necessary, which I suspect most of the time it isn't).

For the rest of the opening I'm going to make decisions based on directly reading out situations and make any strategic (as opposed to tactical decisions) based more on what feels or looks right. I'll allow the commentators to point out where my intuition is failing me.

Okay, there were two trains of thought that I had with this move. Tenuki or fight.

Reasons for Tenuki:
1. Maybe my last move was a mistake, and to avoid any unnecessary losses in this area make a move in another area of the board.
2. I don't like pincers.
3. I'm scared.
4. I could leave some aji in this area of the board, and come back to it later in the game. The problem with this is that his pincer was an aggressive move, and that I'd probably lose the stone before I could activate the aji. If I could even activate the aji, that is.
5. What my emotions are telling me.

Reasons for fighting:
1. My head says that I can come out of this fight with a slight disadvantage. I'll accept a disadvantage at this point since I might have made an inferior move, however channeling my inner Magicwand says that I have to be consistent.
2. I'm going to learn a lot by what he does next. I've never approached a shimari this close before. I'm expecting him to play something like this.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc Analysis
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . 1 . W . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . 2 3 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X . O . 4 X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

3. There were a few moves that I looked at and I didn't like the tenuki options. I didn't look at any of them in depth, but none looked promising. I, also, think that I can live. I can't prove that, but it seems right.

The moves that I looked at were:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc Move 8 possibilities...
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . d . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . e . . . . . , . . . . . , i . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . a b . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . h . . c , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . f g . X . O . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I can't go through the variations that I thought of last night since I'm typing this up between classes. I might post some variations after class, but I have some homework that I've got to do as well.

I'm going to follow my head and not my emotions for the rest of the game, and in chess I've found that when I play using my head instead of my emotions, I play better. SinK played that well, but I'm not going to let my emotions get in the way again. (Or, so I think.)

Seems like the obvious continuation. And in the absence of anything particularly urgent it seems like a good way to keep the initiative and build some influence.

Please don't play that. It hurts me. It'd be one thing if you got eyes after it, but you don't. 2 @ 3 or 2 @ 4 look better but best is probably just jump again.

I remember ddks often don't understand that just because they can add more stones to a group doesn't make it stronger, or that just because a move is sente doesn't mean its free.

I think the shape white has in his diagram is called the "table". At the risk of asking a stupid question, assuming the sequence plays out as he thinks, isn't white getting good shape, with strong eye potential? It's not what I'd play but I don't see how you can say it doesn't help white build eye shape.

Especially with DDK, this below seems the "obvious" line of play (ie: not the best, but the one that feels good and is easy to see/read). If the continuation is like this, white clearly is building solid eye shape:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . 1 . W 6 5 . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . 2 3 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . 7 . . . X . O . 4 X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

It's a question of what he gets for it. With the table shape, white would get half an eye. However, black's corner would become bulletproof, and he would even get sente to attack white.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc Analysis
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . 1 . W . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . 2 3 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X . O . 4 X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

First thing, sente would let black do something like this, which is huge, especially with the top right stone being his. More importantly, however, if white simply jumped up, he would still have opportunity later to try to do mean and nasty things on the corner, like maybe... Q2? You're big on Sector Fights, right? Well, this is one of those situations where Sector Fights says 'run, live, or sacrifice, but only choose one'. White can't live here (and loses aji if he tries), so he should select between living or sacrificing. DtS, by all means correct anything mistaken that I've said here.

Okay, so he did exactly what I thought he was going to do. I ran through some of the variations again last night, and I'm going to go through with this.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc Analysis
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X . O 5 4 . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . 1 2 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X . O . 3 X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

One of the variations that I looked at. I would have accepted this result, however, I don't like the fact that he gets fifth line territory.

So, I tried to find something better (at least to me).

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc What I believe is slightly better...For me.
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X . O . 3 . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . 1 2 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X . O 5 4 X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

This gets rid of the fifth line territory that he gets, but my group is kinda floating into the center.

Don't get me wrong, Black still has the advantage. However, I think that I will be able to survive. I just have to wait for him to make a mistake that I can exploit later.

The second diagram is the one that I'm aiming for, I can play underneath and expand up when I have to. All in all, I think that I have more options in the second diagram than first.

I don't think my corner is in any real danger and his move doesn't give him much of a base either. I don't think I have any urgent moves here so I guess I should look for a big move.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . c . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . d , . . . . . , . . . . . , y . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . b . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . B . O . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . a . . . . B . O . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

a-e are the candidate moves. I don't like c simply because it's gote and e practically forces him to play at a which I don't want. I think a is preferable from what is left mostly on the grounds that he will have to respond but with the back-up of the stones I will probably be walk away from the fight with a move in hand to play at c or d depending on the way the board looks. I am slightly nervous about him invading at b or y but thanks to my shimari I can sacrifice some area on the right to gain some profit on the left around his as of yet unsettled corners.

So a it is.

This sounds like a misconception. The right side is not your area, so he cannot invade it, nor sacrifice it. The side is so wide one can freely split it and make a two-space extension on either direction, so it is perfectly safe to enter the side.

On the other hand - making a white group on that side would be an error at this point, as the three white stones near your corner are not yet stable.